AMANDA Tendler spent much of her younger years dreaming of foreign lands but it wasn’t until her adult life that she got the chance to travel and experience what she had only ever read about on the pages of magazines.
Amanda’s early belief that she wanted to experience more of the world and all it had to offer was soon confirmed to be correct and once she began her journey of exploration she well and truly caught the travel bug.
In this fascinating and frank interview she shares with us some of her wildest experiences from her time spent visiting 30 countries as well some of her tips to those tempted to travel for the first time. Read on to find out about her time spent on an island in the middle of the Indian ocean inhabited by just 300 hundred people as well as her preference to ‘couchsurf’, meeting locals rather than staying in hotels.
Talking with a unique insight Amanda’s thoughtfulness and views on the world and its wonders are sure to leave you feeling inspired. For these reasons it’s also not hard to understand why she is ranked as the number one travel writer on Quora (quora.com/Amanda-Tendler).
From her views on the world to her videos of wild animals in LA this is one interview not to be missed!
You can follow Amanda on Twitter at @loveyoubyebye or on Instagram at @loveyoubyebyebye or visit her website www.loveyoubyebye.com.
Where did your passion for travel come from and what are the countries you’ve visited to date?
I spent my childhood staring at pictures in National Geographic magazine. These images of another world were intriguing, awe-inspiring, and introduced me to a world of wonder with an endless amount of unanswered questions.
I didn’t know what smells or sounds there were; I didn’t know what the air felt like – was it thick and heavy or were there ocean breezes?
I didn’t know what the people looked like as they moved through their daily lives – what gait did they have; how did they talk to each other; what did they want; what did they know about my country?
I didn’t know what the food tasted like or how it was prepared or what happened during mealtimes and really any time – what was it like to really live there and what was it like to die there?
My thirst to learn more about the people and places in these pictures is wholly unquenchable. While travel has attempted to answer all of these questions, it has only inspired a million more. It’s truly a non-stop interactive learning experience with people who are simultaneously like no one you’ve ever met before and like everyone you’ve ever met before.
I’ve landed in a city or walked into a town before and thought “Holy shit, I’m here; I’m in the magazine. It’s real. Here are the answers to all of those questions.” You can see, smell, taste, touch, hear, and feel everything. It’s always so much bigger and deeper and more intense than you ever could have dreamed.
Then you begin to meet the people. They invite you into their homes, their lives, and they stick you in the middle of the generation you fit with the best and instantly you’re a part of their family. You have aunties, uncles, parents, grandparents and siblings that don’t even speak the same language. You begin to realise and internalise that no matter where you are, people are generally good and care for each other. The deepest part of what makes us human has always been the same, no matter the coordinates of birth.
You begin to think that maybe you were here all along and that the other life where you were looking at pictures of this place in your grandmother’s bedroom was the dream. But then you see a picture of the next place and you realise that it’s not the place that feels like home, it’s the travelling that feels like home.
So far I’ve visited Austria, Belgium, China (12 provinces), Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Nepal, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the US (34 states) and Vatican City State.
What have been some of your wildest experiences abroad?
I think the craziest experiences have all been a result of couchsurfing – staying with locals and just following their recommendations. I’ve been in firey bus crashes in India, stayed with a Buddhist monk and rode an elephant in the jungles of Sri Lanka, petted tigers in Thailand, lit fireworks with the police in China and swam with sharks in the Maldives.
But the story that everyone loves is how I ended up on an island with 300 people in the middle of the Indian Ocean. There were lizards and spiders galore and bats hanging out in the trees all day with translucent crabs covering the edges of the island all night.
The reefs were absolutely magnificent..
Fantastic visibility.
I was transported to the island and back on this boat.
Waiting to board the boat – yep, I rode with the locals for free, but slept on the floor with bananas, pineapples, bread and orange juice headed for the resorts.
The fish were cooked by gutting, covering with salt, spearing with a freshly picked palm frond and roasting lightly over a coconut husk fire.
Hanging with the locals.
How has travelling made you the person you are today and what have been your greatest lessons learned while on the road?
On my longest trip, I travelled for 16 months and only stayed in hotels for about 25 nights in total. The rest of the time I couchsurfed – I stayed with locals in over 20 different countries.
Travelling in this way has only reinforced and solidified the ideas I already had about the world:
- 1) People everywhere (everywhere!) are generally good. They want to find someone to love and to love them, care for their families, and produce something they can be proud of. These are universal.
- 2) The world will take care of you, if you let it. Nothing ever goes as planned, but if you’re open to what the world around you has to offer and approach people with a curious mind and loving heart life works out better than you could have planned yourself. Allow world collaboration.
What’s it like living in Los Angeles and how do you spend most of your time there?
When I’m home in Los Angeles, I work as a private tutor full time. I’ve been doing it off and on for more than a decade and I’ll likely be in this profession in some capacity for the rest of my life. When I’m not tutoring, I practice yoga, hang out with my dogs, and travel locally. I also give back to the couchsurfing community while I’m home, hosting one or two groups a month from all over the world. I also host some of the friends I stayed with during my previous journeys.
My home is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. In fact, my backyard is the 700,000 plus acre Angeles National Forest. Since I’m so close I usually end up with a variety of forest animals in my neighborhood. Here are a few shots from my Instagram and videos I have taken:
Twin cubs climbing the tree outside my bedroom window and two more a couple months later with their mother on the hill next to us.
Coyote going for a stroll through the neighbourhood.
Two vultures cleaning up a mess.
A bear crossing the road.
Doe munching on neighbours’ lawns.
Could you tell us more about your page on Quora and how important is it for you to share your experiences with others on the internet?
Quora has been a great way for me to share what I’ve learned about travel and connect with people who have similar interests. There are so many people out there who would love to do what I’ve done but just need a couple of tips and some encouragement to get the ball rolling. I love that I can help people activate their exploring gene.
If you could give one piece of advice to those looking to travel for the first time what would it be?
No excuses! Make a plan, set it in motion, and get out there. After you’ve made the first leap into the world, every other trip will be easier and won’t ever come soon enough.
Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year and beyond and where is your next planned destination?
I’ve got a 2k mile road trip coming up at the end of this month through California and the Pacific Northwest. Then I’m off to Las Vegas and the California beaches for a friend’s wedding extravaganza. After that I’ll be home for a couple weeks before heading out for my 30th birthday celebration – a week in Fiji followed by a three-week road-trip through the north and south islands of New Zealand. I’ve never been to Oceania, so I’m beyond excited to see what’s down there waiting for me!
Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
I’ll be almost 40! Yikes! Realistically, I’ll either be in Las Vegas and travelling three or four months a year or living abroad with a couple of kids in tow, likely teaching. My partner is in the hospitality industry so as long as I can teach, travel, and have kids I’m open to wherever in the world his job takes us.
You can follow Amanda on Twitter at @loveyoubyebye or on Instargram at @loveyoubyebyebye or visit her website www.loveyoubyebye.com.
